Diversity, Growth, and Understanding: School Responses to Immigration in Rural New Brunswick

The province of New Brunswick is growing its population through immigration and retention strategies of newcomers to grow and stabilize its economy. Many communities, traditionally unaccustomed to such growth, are now experiencing a rapid shift in their ethnocultural populations. This report is based on a case study research conducted in three rural New Brunswick schools in three closely connected communities. Each school is confronting their own issues with the shift in their student demographics, but all share common strengths and challenges. The researchers identified four main intersecting themes, each connected to a sub-theme. They found that: 1). Newcomer students are striving hard to learn and live in an English culture; 2). Newcomer students are working to belong in their school through finding Canadian-born friends and allies; 3). Educators and newcomer students are mindful that deficit thinking hinders language and verbal communication; and 4). Stereotypical perceptions about new immigrants taking jobs away from New Brunswickers are pervasive and consistent in the schools and communities that were studied. As more newcomers arrive in the province, the researchers advocate that educators and school leaders need more knowledge and support for working with newcomer students and families. Further, deeper conversations about stereotyping and racism will need to occur to effectively eradicate the negative perceptions about immigrants and immigration in the province

Impaired perceptual learning in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome is mediated by parvalbumin neuron dysfunction and is reversible.

To uncover the circuit-level alterations that underlie atypical sensory processing associated with autism, we adopted a symptom-to-circuit approach in the Fmr1-knockout (Fmr1-/-) mouse model of Fragile X syndrome. Using a go/no-go task and in vivo two-photon calcium imaging, we find that impaired visual discrimination in Fmr1-/- mice correlates with marked deficits in orientation tuning of principal neurons and with a decrease in the activity of parvalbumin interneurons in primary visual cortex. Restoring visually evoked activity in parvalbumin cells in Fmr1-/- mice with a chemogenetic strategy using designer receptors exclusively activated by designer drugs was sufficient to rescue their behavioral performance. Strikingly, human subjects with Fragile X syndrome exhibit impairments in visual discrimination similar to those in Fmr1-/- mice. These results suggest that manipulating inhibition may help sensory processing in Fragile X syndrome

Delineating the molecular and phenotypic spectrum of the SETD1B-related syndrome

Purpose: Pathogenic variants in SETD1B have been associated with a syndromic neurodevelopmental disorder including intellectual disability, language delay, and seizures. To date, clinical features have been described for 11 patients with (likely) pathogenic SETD1B sequence variants. This study aims to further delineate the spectrum of the SETD1B-related syndrome based on characterizing an expanded patient cohort. Methods: We perform an in-depth clinical characterization of a cohort of 36 unpublished individuals with SETD1B sequence variants, describing their molecular and phenotypic spectrum. Selected variants were functionally tested using in vitro and genome-wide methylation assays. Results: Our data present evidence for a loss-of-function mechanism of SETD1B variants, resulting in a core clinical phenotype of global developmental delay, language delay including regression, intellectual disability, autism and other behavioral issues, and variable epilepsy phenotypes. Developmental delay appeared to precede seizure onset, suggesting SETD1B dysfunction impacts physiological neurodevelopment even in the absence of epileptic activity. Males are significantly overrepresented and more severely affected, and we speculate that sex-linked traits could affect susceptibility to penetrance and the clinical spectrum of SETD1B variants. Conclusion: Insights from this extensive cohort will facilitate the counseling regarding the molecular and phenotypic landscape of newly diagnosed patients with the SETD1B-related syndrome

Diversity, Growth, and Understanding: School Responses to Immigration in Rural New Brunswick

The province of New Brunswick is growing its population through immigration and retention strategies of newcomers to grow and stabilize its economy. Many communities, traditionally unaccustomed to such growth, are now experiencing a rapid shift in their ethnocultural populations. This report is based on a case study research conducted in three rural New Brunswick schools in three closely connected communities. Each school is confronting their own issues with the shift in their student demographics, but all share common strengths and challenges. The researchers identified four main intersecting themes, each connected to a sub-theme. They found that: 1). Newcomer students are striving hard to learn and live in an English culture; 2). Newcomer students are working to belong in their school through finding Canadian-born friends and allies; 3). Educators and newcomer students are mindful that deficit thinking hinders language and verbal communication; and 4). Stereotypical perceptions about new immigrants taking jobs away from New Brunswickers are pervasive and consistent in the schools and communities that were studied. As more newcomers arrive in the province, the researchers advocate that educators and school leaders need more knowledge and support for working with newcomer students and families. Further, deeper conversations about stereotyping and racism will need to occur to effectively eradicate the negative perceptions about immigrants and immigration in the province

BrphyB is critical for rapid recovery to darkness in mature Brassica rapa leaves

Crop biomass and yield are tightly linked to how the light signaling network translates information about the environment into allocation of resources, including photosynthates. Once activated, the phytochrome (phy) class of photoreceptors signal and re−deploy carbon resources to alter growth, plant architecture, and reproductive timing. Brassica rapa has been used as a crop model to test for conservation of the phytochrome−carbon network. B. rapa phyB mutants have significantly decreased or absent CO2 −stimulated growth responses in seedlings, and adult plants have reduced chlorophyll levels, photosynthetic rate, stomatal index, and seed yield. Here, we examine the transcriptomic response of adult wild−type and BrphyB leaves to darkening and recovery in light. Three days of darkness was sufficient to elicit a response in wild type leaves suggesting a shift from carbon fixation and nutrient acquisition to active redistribution of cellular resources. Upon a return to light, wild−type leaves appeared to transcriptionally return to a pre−darkness state restoring a focus on nutrient acquisition. Overall, BrphyB mutant plants have a similar response with key differences in genes involved in photosynthesis and light response which deviate from the wild type transcriptional dynamics. Genes targeted to the chloroplast are especially affected. Adult BrphyB mutant plants had fewer, larger chloroplasts, further linking phytochromes, chloroplast development, photosynthetic deficiencies and optimal resource allocation. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest

BrphyB is critical for rapid recovery to darkness in mature Brassica rapa leaves

Crop biomass and yield are tightly linked to how the light signaling network translates information about the environment into allocation of resources, including photosynthates. Once activated, the phytochrome (phy) class of photoreceptors signal and re−deploy carbon resources to alter growth, plant architecture, and reproductive timing. Brassica rapa has been used as a crop model to test for conservation of the phytochrome−carbon network. B. rapa phyB mutants have significantly decreased or absent CO2 −stimulated growth responses in seedlings, and adult plants have reduced chlorophyll levels, photosynthetic rate, stomatal index, and seed yield. Here, we examine the transcriptomic response of adult wild−type and BrphyB leaves to darkening and recovery in light. Three days of darkness was sufficient to elicit a response in wild type leaves suggesting a shift from carbon fixation and nutrient acquisition to active redistribution of cellular resources. Upon a return to light, wild−type leaves appeared to transcriptionally return to a pre−darkness state restoring a focus on nutrient acquisition. Overall, BrphyB mutant plants have a similar response with key differences in genes involved in photosynthesis and light response which deviate from the wild type transcriptional dynamics. Genes targeted to the chloroplast are especially affected. Adult BrphyB mutant plants had fewer, larger chloroplasts, further linking phytochromes, chloroplast development, photosynthetic deficiencies and optimal resource allocation. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest